A tire is a ring-shaped vehicle component that may be mounted to a wheel rim to provide traction between the vehicle and the road while providing a flexible cushion that absorbs shock.
A pneumatic tire is an inflatable structure (carcass) having three main parts: a tread, a bead, and sidewall extending between them. Pneumatic tires are generally of two types: (i) “tube type” tires which require a separate inner tube to be inflated, and (ii) “tubeless” tires that may be inflated and with the bead sealed against the flanges of the wheel rim, and without a separate inner tube. In the main, hereinafter, tubeless tires will be discussed, particularly because ATV tires are mainly tubeless.
In a “flat tire” situation, damage occurs that breaches the carcass allowing air to escape, consequently compromising the ability of the tire to function properly. Except for special run-flat tires, a flat tire cannot be driven on. Even at very low speeds on a level roadway the tire is severely distorted as the sidewall is crushed between the rim and the tread or road surface and this will eventually cause the bead to unseat from the rim thus disassociating the ground-contacting tread from the rim rotating on the axle.
The most common types of tire damage may be generally categorized as either a hole (a.k.a. puncture), or a tear, and may be collectively referenced as “pneumatic defects”.
A hole type of pneumatic defect is characterized as a roughly round through-passage, i.e., not significantly extended in any particular direction relative to the carcass wall. It may be caused by rolling over a sharply pointed object like a nail, and most often occurs in the tread part of the tire. A hole defect may be repairable by “plugging” the hole using any of a wide variety of commonly available tire plug kits. To be reliably repaired by plugging, the hole should be no more than ⅜″ average “diameter”, preferably less than ¼″ and must be in the tread area. Sidewall hole plugging is not reliable, for reasons including the thinner material and the flexing it undergoes.
A tear (rip, cut, slash, gash, slice, split and the like) type of pneumatic defect is characterized as a somewhat linear, longitudinally extended through-passage, typically irregularly shaped or jagged. It may be caused by sliding or rolling against/along a sharp object and most often occurs in the sidewall part of the tire. Especially for sidewall tears, the present art does not offer any reliable repair means or methods. The best available is a flexible patch that must be applied to the inside surface of the tire and somehow adhered/vulcanized to stay in place.
Plugging the tread of a tire can be done on a mounted tire as long as the wheel is rotated enough to make the hole accessible from the outside. However, with presently available repair materials any attempt to repair a tear in the sidewall of a pneumatic tire would involve: (i) raise (jack up) the vehicle sufficiently to remove the wheel (rim and tire) from the axle of the vehicle, (ii) remove at least one bead of the tire from the rim, (iii) apply a patch to the inner surface of the tire at the location of the defect, (iv) re-mount the tire on the rim, and (v) replace the wheel onto the axle of the vehicle. Such a procedure may be all but impossible to perform on an ORV out in the field.
The invention described herein may be primarily applicable to tires for “off-road” vehicles (ORV), such as 4-wheel ATV's (all terrain vehicles). Off-road vehicles may include:                Sport Quad (common ATV, used to “play in the mud”, rock climbing, “off-roading” and the like).        UTV=utility/work/all purpose version of ATV. The UTV is a beefed up ATV—a.k.a. “side by side” because one or more bench seats are provided. It may also include useful accessories such as small truck bed, possibly a dumping bed, and so on according to need.        large garden tractors, lawn mowers, snow blowers and the like, especially those big enough for riding are also ORV′S, but generally not subjected to severe conditions.        
The ATV/UTV type of ORV is a vehicle designed for use anywhere other vehicles cannot go or have problems, i.e., rough terrain/poor to no roads (thus, an ORV tire). In addition to sport quad enthusiasts, users may include hunters, prospectors, geologists, remote construction site workers, and anyone transporting people/goods in wilderness/remote areas. Includes users towing a rugged trailer. Also commonly used by farmers.
Because of its type of use, an ATV is squat shaped (low and wide) to avoid tipping, and has tires with aggressive tread shape and large footprint (for traction, and to avoid sinking in mud). Other ORV's may use tires like this.
A typical ATV tire may be an 18″ tire on a 12″ rim. These tires may have a large footprint (wide tread), are typically operated at a pressure of between 5-10 psi to provide good traction in mud etc., and typically operate at relatively low speed use, on unpaved terrain. These tires may have a 2-ply sidewall, and are thus relatively flexible (as compared with car tires), which enables the sidewall to flex and to “wrap around” rocks, etc. The tire elastomer may be a relatively soft compound to add friction/grip as the tire “wraps around” objects in its path. Nevertheless, the sidewall may become torn. Some typical ATV tires are:                AT205×80R11 (11″ rim, 8″ section width, 6.5″ section height (sidewall height); and        25-8-12 inch rated (12″ rim, 25″ tire overall height, 8″ section width, which means a 6.5″ section height).        The sidewall height may be only about 3″ for an 18″ tire on a 12″ rim.        
Terrain of use includes very rough rocky ground and/or serious mud, soft sand, shallow marshy areas, even a jungle. Because of this, tire damage is common, and may be either a puncture/hole (typically in the tread) or a tear/slash/cut (usually in the sidewall). A torn (slashed, cut, sliced) sidewall is a common problem resulting from when tire slides down on, or squeezes by, a sharp edged or pointed rock, a sharp object (e.g., a sharp stick) under the surface of mud, water or snow; and the like.
The ORV (ATV, UTV) user may be alone, or in a small group, far from civilization, with no roads for a rescue/repair vehicle. When the driver of an ATV experiences a flat tire, he/she may be far from the vehicle that brought the ATV to the nearest roadside unloading point (e.g., in a trailer or back of pickup truck with ramp), therefor he will need to drive the ATV out of the wild. However the ATV is generally not drivable with a flat tire (the undercarriage may drag on ground, and a tubeless tire will come loose from the rim with no pressure to hold it there). To make matters worse, in rough terrain it may be impossible to jack up the vehicle, let alone remove the wheel for repair. Besides, the excess weight and storage space needed to carry a spare tire or even a car jack generally makes that prohibitive.
Tire sidewall damage is much more of a problem than tread damage because puncture repair plugs are readily available, inexpensive, and simple to implement even in the field, however there is nothing available to effectively repair a tear in the sidewall, particularly in the field where the tire cannot be removed for internal patching. Tread/hole repair plugs are a resilient rod that is folded over a forked tool that is used to force the plug into the hole along with an adhesive/sealing compound. Desperate ORV users may attempt to repair a sidewall tear by cramming in several plugs but this generally won't hold air for long before the plugs wiggle loose and fall out.
Thus there is an unmet need for means and method of effective repair of tears in a tire, more particularly for tears or holes in a tire sidewall, and most particularly for emergency or field repair of off-road vehicle tires when the tire cannot be removed from its rim for interior repairs.